Concern at prison's deterioration

Tuesday 27 January 2009 00:01 BST

Conditions at a women's prison where two inmates died in custody have deteriorated "significantly", a report has found.

Inspectors said HMP Send in Surrey had "weak" anti-bullying arrangements, no programme to help reduce violence and safety levels had got worse since the last inspection. They also found the prison had struggled to retain staff, and had seen increased prisoner numbers without enough investment. There was also an "excessive turnover" of governors, with three different people in the post in less than two years.

Chief inspector of prisons Anne Owers said: "Send has gone through a very unsettled period, with an expansion of its population and an increase in short-term prisoners, but without sufficient investment in the regime."

She continued: "The pervasive impact of the inability to recruit and retain staff had resulted in shortages, an influx of inexperienced staff and difficulty in maintaining an appropriate gender balance.

"On top of this, there had been an excessive turnover of governors - three in less than two years - and further uncertainty created by a new clustering arrangement with a women's prison in Sutton.

"The outcome had been slippage in some important areas since our previous inspection, including a worrying deterioration in aspects of safety.

"Send requires regional and national support to achieve a period of badly needed stability, so that it can focus on addressing the increased challenges that it faces."

Phil Wheatley, director general of the National Offender Management Service, said: "There is no doubt that the chief inspector has accurately described the main difficulties facing Send at the time of the inspection. The Governor and staff at Send are committed to drive forward change at the prison. I am pleased that there has already been progress in recruitment, in violence reduction and in staff searching."

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust said: "This report should serve as a sharp warning to Government to press ahead with its planned community centres for vulnerable women and to divert those with addictions, mental health needs, and learning disabilities into health or social care. This would leave women's prisons free to work effectively with the very few women who have committed serious and violent offences. A women's prison is not a hospital or a treatment centre. It is a punishment of last resort."